Consumer/market preference for set top boxes and the like (such as computers, game consoles, DVD players, CD players, etc.) is to have such devices be small/compact. However, this requirement is becoming increasingly challenging, because set top boxes and the like are required to perform more functions, which require more internal components.
Wireless antennae are one key component of many set top boxes and the like. Wireless antennae for set top boxes are most often rectangular in shape and must be oriented inside the box to give the best performance possible. This means that there should be adequate clearance from metal parts in the box and that placement and orientation of antennae must be as diverse as possible within the box.
Further, to minimize the risk of electrostatic discharge associated with antennae, the major form of set top boxes were enlarged to accommodate the vertical orientation of wireless antennae.
Alternatively, when such larger sizes of the set top box or the like are not deemed acceptable to the customer's preference, antennae have been oriented horizontally. This has unfortunately reduced antennae performance. As such, the trade-off has been that smaller size boxes commensurate with a horizontally oriented antenna have been produced with non-optimal antenna performance. In short, with the consumer/market aesthetics preference for electronic devices such as set top boxes to be as small and slim as possible, horizontal form factors are often the result and required.
As such, a need exists for an antenna assembly that can function properly as an antenna, but yet meet consumer/market aesthetic requirements for a sufficiently slim electronic device in which there is a reduced propensity for electrostatic discharge.